Who's camped on the James Bay Road? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Who's camped on the James Bay Road?

PrivatePilot

PrivatePilot

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Plans for this summers trip with 2 good riding buddies is well underway. If plans go as currently laid out, we'll be going in early June, mainly in an attempt to beat any forest fires that ended up causing a scratch on our trip last summer. The only thing that may change this is if the tours of the Legrande generating station (one of the goals of the trip) start later than currently planned, but I've been in touch with Hydro Quebec and they've said they anticipate tours starting around the second week of June.

Anyhow, our plot takes us out into Quebec to start to take in some of the roads out there before heading North, and our current plot also has us camping on the JBR for 1 night on the way up, and 1 night on the way down. We'll be camping pretty much every night for that matter, but the JBR options will be crown land vs the quasi-established campgrounds we'll be opting for for the rest of the trip. We prefer rustic camping in general, but a few fancier campgrounds are planned so we can shower etc.

Info on the campsites is hit and miss, and I'm curious if anyone has actually camped at any of the sites along the road and might have some info/photos to share?
 
Thx @MacDoc , the blog is new, the other sites I've seen before yes. I've correlated the campground link to the one we've opted to stay at on the way up and the description is very basic, so I thougth I'd see if anyone has actually stayed at any of them (or at least popped by) and had any photos or whatnot - plans are flexible and if any have particularly good reviews we would change things up.
 
We rough/vagrant camped on the JBR the first time up. That was about 2010 and my memory is not crystal clear. We found space for tents and a fire near one of turn offs.
I just looked and it might have been here at the road to Wemindji. If the google street view works you can see the rest/camp area.
When it comes to rough camping we camp first ask permission later and up this far who would care?


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PP, you guys have any interest in side trips to East Main or Wemindji? I've been to both. (About 80-100km of well groomed gravel one way)
 
timtune said:
PP, you guys have any interest in side trips to East Main or Wemindji? I've been to both. (About 80-100km of well groomed gravel one way)
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Probably not. One friend is on a Wing with our support trailer behind him, other on an ST1300, and me on my new Transcontinental. None of which are particularly well suited for gravel.

None of us are scared of gravel or dirt roads in the end, the one buddy I'm travelling with, well, him and I rode a 50-75km section of dirt road 2 years ago in Vermont when we came across a "it's 200 extra km now to go any other way" situation lol, but 150-200km of it just to see a little town and the water, well, probably not on the menu this time around.
 
MacDoc said:
You also should be able to avoid the black flies in June ....they will be there but not voracious but…
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That far north, there are no black flies in May, from June and July they are voracious, you will be swarmed non stop while the sun is up, they aren’t a bother in the dark (mid June you’ll get about 5 hours relief a day.

Sadly mosquitos do the night shift, faster healing but equally annoying.

I’ve travelled a lot through the North, black flies are not fun nor can you manage them. I’d prefer backing thru Yemen carrying an American flag to rough camping the JBR in June.
 
We indeed were swarmed in June but for reasons unknown ...they were not biting...and I've been in fishing camps when you need to duck tape your sleeves and ankles to prevent them crawling in and leaving huge welts.
I don't have an explanation for it.
Jay was hilarious as he'd bought a compact stove/coffee maker and was determined to make himself a brew on the road but the wind was not having it.
Finally found an emergency phone booth.
Screen Shot 2024-01-29 at Jan, 29 2024 9.57.19 AM.jpg


Now no way he could have spent the 15 minutes or so, bare headed and bare handed fiddling to get a camp coffee going if the black flies were biting....they were around though not in clouds of them and I don't recall a single bite for either of us on the trip. Maybe only the males had hatched, maybe the species...I just don't know,
Not all black flies bite Currie said it's only the female black fly that will bite. Of the 30 to 40 different kinds of black flies in Labrador, only a handful will bite
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The environment was certainly black fly friendly...lots of fast water
Screen Shot 2024-01-29 at Jan, 29 2024 10.07.57 AM.jpg
But no bites I can recall.
Collected lots of bugs tho. By the time we hit Raddison there was protein sandwich worth.Screen Shot 2024-01-29 at Jan, 29 2024 10.10.42 AM.jpg
Good memories ....June trips were always my go to....long daylight and as long as you dressed for a variety of weather....the best time IMNSHO ;)

Oh yeah, mind the caribou...they sure can hustle. Looking forward to a trip report.
I suppose spare fuel in the trailer for that 350 km dry stretch.
 
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Between the 3 of us I think we have 5 thermacells if we brought all the ones we own, and those things are literally magic, so we'll build a dome of hopeful impenetrability around us lol. I plan to carry my smaller portable one in my tank bag and can have it lit within seconds of stopping.

I have camped in areas where the mosquitos swarmed me as I got out of the car to the point it was literally hard to breathe as they were in your nose and mouth as you breathed, and 10 minutes after the thermacell warmed up....nothing.

When the pad started to wear out, they're back. New pad....gone.

I don't travel anywhere in the woods anymore without one, I swear by those things.

I also have a head bug net that I've been carrying in my bike for about 3 years now since one of the covid-year JBR scratches, worst case, and I'll also have lots of deet on top of it all, so I'm pretty sure we'll be OK.
 
GreyGhost said:
Waiting the for pics of the camper behind your bike. It should be bug resistant.
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Lol. It's not a Goldwing.

In related news, that reminded me of this silly video I watched last summer. Worth a watch for the laughs.

 
PrivatePilot said:
Probably not. One friend is on a Wing with our support trailer behind him, other on an ST1300, and me on my new Transcontinental. None of which are particularly well suited for gravel.

None of us are scared of gravel or dirt roads in the end, the one buddy I'm travelling with, well, him and I rode a 50-75km section of dirt road 2 years ago in Vermont when we came across a "it's 200 extra km now to go any other way" situation lol, but 150-200km of it just to see a little town and the water, well, probably not on the menu this time around.
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Did the run to East Main on my FZ6 so no worries on the Wing. That said there is not a great deal to do there other than see my buddies 5-6x great grandfathers grave which is over 200 years old and still very well kept.
 
Mad Mike said:
That far north, there are no black flies in May, from June and July they are voracious, you will be swarmed non stop while the sun is up, they aren’t a bother in the dark (mid June you’ll get about 5 hours relief a day.

Sadly mosquitos do the night shift, faster healing but equally annoying.

I’ve travelled a lot through the North, black flies are not fun nor can you manage them. I’d prefer backing thru Yemen carrying an American flag to rough camping the JBR in June.
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We quickly learned to sip beer thru the bug net.
 
timtune said:
We quickly learned to sip beer thru the bug net.
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I'll let ya all know how the Thermacell ring of defence system worked out.
 
PrivatePilot said:
I'll let ya all know how the Thermacell ring of defence system worked out.
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I swear by my Thermacell, they will work when you stop.

During sunny days, the flies are tolerable, overcast days you can be swarmed, I’ve had dozes of bites while riding, anything that blows up your sleeve, pan leg or collar will bite you. Remember the days are also vey long, black flies are active from 4am till about 10:30pm

Never ride with your pants fly open.
 
Over the years I've had some pretty miserable experiences hiking and camping in the back country with swarms of aggressive black flies and mosquitoes.

Coordinating a trip with a couple of people involves multiple schedules and lots of potential conflicts, but have you considered going in mid to late August or even after Labor Day. I think weather would be about the same, but the number of bugs likely hugely diminished compared to early June.
 
ReSTored said:
Over the years I've had some pretty miserable experiences hiking and camping in the back country with swarms of aggressive black flies and mosquitoes.

Coordinating a trip with a couple of people involves multiple schedules and lots of potential conflicts, but have you considered going in mid to late August or even after Labor Day. I think weather would be about the same, but the number of bugs likely hugely diminished compared to early June.
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I'm not worried about the coordination aspect, the three fellows I'm going with this year, well, we've ridden tens of thousands of kilometres together over the years and are very much on the same page so far as our goals, camping, and riding styles. No cat herding worries. Heck, I'm an "eat, sleep, ride" kinda guy and a few times I've been the last one out of my tent in the morning when we have motocamped together, so yeah lol.

The reason for choosing June this year versus July or August is 100% to do with avoiding another potential forest fire scratch like what happened last year. The majority of last summer the JBR was either completely closed or only accessible under emergency responder escort, and most of the rest of the time the whole area up there was more or less "don't come, we don't want to deal with tourists right now" in the few windows of opportunity that did exist given their massive fires there.

Given as how this is year 5 of the attempts, after scheduling scratches, multiple Covid scratches, and now forest fire scratches, I'm not going to let some bugs deter me. Have bug nets, have picardin, have deet, have thermacells. Will travel. 😉
 
Coordinating a trip with a couple of people involves multiple schedules and lots of potential conflicts, but have you considered going in mid to late August or even after Labor Day. I think weather would be about the same, but the number of bugs likely hugely diminished compared to early June.
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are you sure of that ? Our June trip on the JBR was not bothered with biting bugs and why give up the lovely long daylight. Morning light starts at 3 am - from the window in Radisson.


Did Pickle Lake in mid July during the pandemic and it was mozzies at night that were a plague. More daylight please 🌞.....one thing I miss riding in Aus...no seasonal daylight hours change of any note, short dawns and twilights.
I loved heading out at 5 am in June rom the GTA and be in Sudbury in a few short hours, or at Coudersport. THE best time of year in Canada.
 
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MacDoc said:
Did Pickle Lake in mid July during the pandemic and it was mozzies at night that were a plague. More daylight please 🌞.....one thing I miss riding in Aus...no seasonal daylight hours change of any note, short dawns and twilights.
I loved heading out at 5 am in June rom the GTA and be in Sudbury in a few short hours, or at Coudersport. THE best time of year in Canada.
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I remember passing you (and vice versa) a few times on that trip, but I don't remember the bugs. My riding buddy on that trip and I retired pretty early though most nights, but I don't remember the bugs being bad so maybe we just missed them. Not much to do in pickle lake after they roll in the sidewalks lol.
 
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